Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Article Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord Brian K. Sorrell 1,* , Ian Hawes 2 , Tanja Stratmann 3,4 and Lars Chresten Lund-Hansen 1 1 Arctic Research Centre, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C., DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark;
[email protected] 2 Coastal Marine Field Station, Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, Sulphur Point, Tauranga 3110, New Zealand;
[email protected] 3 Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands;
[email protected] 4 HGF MPG Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, 28359 Bremen, The Netherlands * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Snow cover on sea ice is the most important factor controlling light availability for sea ice algae, but it is predicted by climate models to become more variable and stochastic. Here, we document effects of a sudden, complete loss of the entire snow cover on first-year sea ice at Kangerlussuaq Fjord, West Greenland, due to a natural Föhn wind event that caused a ca. 17 ◦C air temperature increase over 36 h. We applied Imaging-PAM fluorometry to examine effects of snow cover on algal distribution and photobiology and observed a rapid decrease in algal biomass associated with loss of the skeletal ice crystal layer on the underside of the ice that had supported most of the visible algae. Furthermore, the remaining algae were photobiologically stressed, as seen Citation: Sorrell, B.K.; Hawes, I.; in a significant decrease in the dark-acclimated fluorescence yield (F ) from 0.55 before snow Stratmann, T.; Lund-Hansen, L.C.